Innovative Transformation of the Space Under a Flyover into Sports Complex

Metropolitan cities around the world have to tackle the problem of space. With a majority of the public from the country seeking job opportunities and better living conditions in the metro cities, these hubs don’t take a lot of time to turn into overcrowded hoods.

Mumbai has been facing the issue of an overflowing population for a long time now. A new video introducing the clever solutions of turning an open space beneath a bridge into a playground has the internet impressed. 

With increasing urbanisation, common spaces for people are becoming rare in cities, especially when it comes to places like public playgrounds. However, smart urban planning can offer solutions to this by transforming unutilised spaces hidden in the nooks and corners of a bustling city.

An example of this can be seen in a public sports complex built under the Sanpada flyover in Mumbai.

Urban Planning

Urban planning, also referred to as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that focuses on the design and development of land use and the built environment, including air, water, and infrastructure that enters and exits urban areas, such as transportation, communications, and distribution networks, as well as the accessibility of these networks. Traditionally, urban planning followed a top-down approach in planning human settlements. The public's welfare was the main priority, and this included taking into account issues like effectiveness, hygienic conditions, environmental preservation and utilisation, as well as how the master plans would affect social and commercial endeavours.

Urban planning now prioritizes the social and environmental bottom lines, emphasizing the use of planning as a tool to enhance people's health and well-being while upholding sustainability norms.

Why India Needs Urban Planning:

* In India, the rate of urbanisation is quickly rising. The urban population was over 30% in 2011 and is projected to increase to 41% by 2030. 

* Urbanization has aided in social, political, and economic advancement, but it has also brought up significant socioeconomic issues. The main causes of this situation are the huge expansion of the metropolitan population, the unplanned and uncontrolled growth of urban areas, and a severe shortage of infrastructure. 

* Public services like housing, sanitation, transportation, water, energy, health, and education have been under a lot of pressure as a result of the rapid growth of the urban population, both naturally and through migration. Beggary, thievery, dacoities, burglaries, underemployment, poverty, and other social ills are common among rural immigrants. Metropolises have shown signs of bad planning, as evidenced by the severe pollution issue in Delhi, the Mumbai and Chennai floods, and so on.

Challenges with urban planning :

* Our urban planning machinery has not grown at the pace of the demands posed by urbanization and global technological advancements. 

* Urban local bodies face a massive shortage of skilled and trained human resources as well as financial challenges.

* Furthermore, poor quality of planning is a huge limiting factor to realising the true economic potential of urbanization. 

* Urban planning, which is the foundation for the integrated development of cities, citizens, and the environment, has not received adequate attention. 

* 65% of the 7933 urban settlements do not have any master plan. This leads to piecemeal interventions, haphazard constructions, urban sprawl, and environmental pollution, which can further aggravate issues such as traffic congestion, flooding, etc. 

* In many cities, development control regulations were formulated several decades ago and have been updated arbitrarily without sufficient empirical evidence of their impacts. 

* An inadequate number of urban planners in the State planning machinery and a lack of multi-disciplinary teams are serious issues.

Resilient City

Resilient cities are cities that have the ability to absorb, recover and prepare for future shocks (economic, environmental, social & institutional). Resilient cities promote sustainable development, well-being and inclusive growth. A Resilient City is one that has developed capacities to absorb future shocks and stresses

A resilience building process entails strengthening of:

> City systems (Infrastructure, services, sectors) - drainage, water supply, transport, health facilities etc.

> City planning (development norms, land-use planning)

> A resilient city assesses, plans and acts to prepare for and respond to all hazards – sudden and slow onset, expected and unexpected.

Eco Cities

Eco city  is an ideal habitat where nature & technology merge, human creativity & productivity reaches a maximum level, residents’ health & environmental quality are well protected & energy, materials, and information are efficiently used. 

Eco city concept has its roots in the ecological planning approach detailed by Ian Mc Harg, a landscape architect in 1969, in his book ‘Design with Nature’.

Richard Register, introduced the term Eco City in 1987 in his book, Eco City Berkeley: Building Cities for A Healthy Future.

The characteristics of eco cities are:

1. Health And Harmony:

In order to provide enough and consistent ecosystem services in an eco city the human support system is healthy and sustainable.

2. High efficiency and vigor:

The high consumption, high emission, high pollution and low productivity developmental modes are altered into more environmentally friendly modes in an eco city.

3. Low Carbon Orientation:

Looking at the climate change the cities are facing this is the need of the hour. Emphasis should be laid on high productivity with minimized use of natural resources.

4. Sustaining Prosperity:

Current development should not put at risk the development of the next generation.

5. High Ecological Civilization:

In an eco city, the concept of ecological civilization is displayed in and permeates all fields, including industrial production, human day to day activities, education, community  construction and societal fashion. 

6. Holism:

Eco cities lay emphasis on the holistic development integrating social, economic and environmental factors.

7. Regionality:

Each city is different with respect to its geographical characteristics and thus each city has a different urban development scenario.

India’s performance on SDG 11

The Government of India has placed high priority on sustainability, environment, and inclusion for transforming cities and city regions with implementation of national missions namely, Clean India, Housing for All, Smart Cities, National Mission for Clean Ganga, Digital India, amongst others to achieve SDG 11. 

These missions have been instrumental in addressing basic urban necessities of affordable housing, sanitation, solid and liquid waste, infrastructure, urban renewal and retrofitting, as well as frontier themes of digital governance, technological innovations, smart solutions for economic growth and improving quality of life of people to achieve the targets of SDG 11.

(i) Social Inclusion and Ending Poverty: 

Slums pervade almost all urban areas with 2,613 towns, or 64% of all towns (4,041) in the country reporting slums in 2011. Central and State governments have continued to actively design and implement complementary programmes and missions to provide better housing and infrastructure targeted in slums and informal settlements. Specifically, In-Situ Slum Upgrading is one of the four strategic interventions under the Housing for All Mission, through which 451,050 houses have been sanctioned as of November 2021.

(ii) Access to Adequate Housing: 

The government’s flagship, Housing for All mission has imbibed the principles under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Under the mission all eligible beneficiaries were provided assistance to either build or acquire an all-weather dwelling unit with basic civic and social amenities. Light House Projects (LHPs) are also being built as part of the Global Housing Technology Challenge-India (GHTC- India) initiative under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U). MoHUA is promoting LHPs as live laboratories for transfer of technology to the field. The primary goal is to encourage large scale participation of people to create technical awareness for on-site learning. Under PMAY Urban, a total investment of 108.361 billion USD has been made as of April 25, 2022, and that has resulted in 12.269 million houses being sanctioned, and 5.8 million houses completed/delivered to beneficiaries.

(iii) The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT):

It was launched in 2015 by MoHUA to provide basic civic amenities, namely, water supply, sewerage and septage management, storm water drainage to reduce flooding, non-motorized urban transport and green space/parks in 500 cities to improve the quality of life with major focus to the poor and the disadvantaged. The mission facilitated investments of 3.522 million USD in over 4,000 projects across 500 cities. A key feature of the project was green investments, and to that effect, 62,78,571 streetlights have been replaced with LED lights against the target of 97,93,386 as of April 25, 2022. Furthermore, 52,327 Capacity Building trainings have been imparted to local officials and technical experts. In 2021, the mission was extended AMRUT 2.0 was launched with an aim to provide 100% coverage of water supply to all households and 100% coverage of sewerage and septage in 500 AMRUT cities. Outcome based funding is a major feature of AMRUT 2.0. 

(iv) Swachh Bharat Mission: 

To improve hygiene, waste management and sanitation across the country, Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean India Mission) was launched in 2014. In December 2019, the mission achieved its target of Open Defecation Free (ODF) status in all towns of 35 states / UTs, which were certified through third-party verification. More than 6 million individual household toilets and 6.2 million community and public toilets were constructed under the mission. Remarkable achievement has also been made in solid waste management, with over 100,000 tonnes per day of waste being processed out of the total waste of 145,574 tonnes per day that is being produced.

Coastal Regulation Zone

Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZ) are the areas along the 7,500 km-long coastal stretch of India. As per the official notification, the coastal land up to 500m from the High Tide Line (HTL) and a stage of 100m along banks of creeks, estuaries, backwater and rivers subject to tidal fluctuations, is called the Coastal Regulation Zone. The development of buildings, tourism infrastructure and other facilities is regulated in these areas by the Government of India.

The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Rules govern human and industrial activity close to the coastline, in order to protect the fragile ecosystems near the sea. This includes restricting certain kinds of activities — like large constructions, setting up of new industries, storage or disposal of hazardous material, mining, reclamation and bunding — within a certain distance from the coastline. 

Coastal Stretches of creeks, bays, seas, rivers and backwaters that are affected by the tidal actions of up to 500 metres from the High Tide Line and the land between the Low Tide Line and the High Tide line are Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZ). A notification was issued in February 1991, under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 for the regulation of coastal area activities by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). This was when the Government of India notified Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZ) for the first time. As per the notification, coastal areas are of four categories as CRZ-1, CRZ-2, CRZ-3 and CRZ-4.

Different types of Coastal Regulation Zones:

CRZ-1:

These are ecologically sensitive areas which are essential in maintaining the ecosystem of the coasts. These include national parks/marine parks, sanctuaries, reserve forests, wildlife habitats, mangroves and corals/coral reefs. These areas are situated between the high and low tide lines.

CRZ-2:

The areas that have already developed up till the shoreline of the coast are included in this zone. Construction of unauthorised structures is prohibited in this zone.

CRZ-3:

Rural and urban localities that are relatively undisturbed and do not belong to the first two categories are included under CRZ-3. Only specific activities related to agriculture or some public facilities are allowed in this zone. It includes areas within municipal limits or in legally designated urban areas that are not substantially built-up.

CRZ-4:

These areas include the coastal stretches in Lakshadweep, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and some other small islands, except those termed as CRZ-I, CRZ-II, or CRZ-III. These areas reside in the aquatic region up to the territorial limits. Activities such as fishing and other allied services are permitted in this zone. Releasing solid waste is prohibited on such land.

Coastal Regulation Zones Notification 2019:

The Coastal regulation zone notification 2019 was issued to replace the 2011 notification. According to the latest notification, the development of the coastal region of the country should be done in a sustainable manner, keeping climate change and sea-level rise issues.

The 2019 notification divided CRZ-III areas(rural areas) into two categories namely CRZ-IIIA and CRZ-IIIB of which the former denotes an area with population density more than 2161 persons per square km while the later denotes rural areas with population density less than 2161 persons per square km.

As per the latest notification the CRZ-IIIA areas will have no development zone (NDZ) of 50 metres from the high tide line (HTL) as compared to the 200 metres as stipulated in the notification of 2011.

The CRZ-IIIB areas however will have a no development zone of 200 metres from the HTL. The population density of respective areas will be measured on the basis of Census 2011.

Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme

Government of India launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) including sub-component namely Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) and Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) in December, 2005 for a period of 7 years i.e., upto 31stMarch, 2012. The UIDSSMT and UIG component was for infrastructure development with Central Assistance (CA) in small and medium towns of the States/Union Territories (UTs), whereas UIG component   was    for   infrastructure    development   with   central assistance in large Cities. The JNNURM was extended for a period of two years i.e., upto 31st March, 2014.  All the projects of UIDSSMT and UIG components of JNNURM in which 50% or more of the CA had been released and physical progress was 50% or more as on 31stMarch, 2014 or were sanctioned during the Transition Phase (1stApril, 2012 to 31stMarch, 2014) of the Mission, were approved for funding under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) upto 31stMarch, 2017. After closure of the Mission, all the projects were handed over to the States/UTs.

AMRUT was launched on 25thJune 2015 with focus on the development of basic urban infrastructure in the sectors of water supply, sewerage and septage management, storm water drainage, non-motorised urban transport and development of green spaces and parks in 500 selected cities across the country. Further, AMRUT Mission as such is not mandated to eradicate slums in the country. However, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U)has In-Situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR) as one of its four components under which slum rehabilitation can be taken up using land as a resource.

Development of urban infrastructure is a State subject. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the States / Union Territories (UTs) to frame policies and implement scheme for improving the quality of life for all including the poor and the disadvantaged people residing in its cities. However, Government of India, through various programmatic interventions, assists the States/UTs in their effort to provide basic amenities required to improve quality of life, such as shelter, water supply, sewage and toilets facilities to urban population. Such programmes, which are under implementation at present, are - Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U).

Drone Rules, 2021

These aim to make drone operations simpler for civilian drone operators. 

Several requirements and approvals have been abolished which includes:

 >  Unique authorisation number, unique prototype identification number, certificate of manufacturing and airworthiness, operator permit etc. 

 >  Number of forms reduced from 25 to 5 and types of fees from 72 to 4. 

 >  The coverage of these rules has been increased to cover drones up to 500 kg in weight from 300 kg earlier. 

 >  The quantum of fees, which was earlier linked to the size of drone, has been reduced and delinked from the size. 

 >  For instance, the remote pilot license fee has been reduced from INR 3000 (for large drone) to INR 100 for all categories of drones; and is valid for 10 years. 

Digital sky platform shall be developed as a user-friendly single-window system. There will be minimal human interface and most permissions will be self-generated.

Interactive airspace map with green, yellow and red zones shall be displayed on the digital sky platform

Green Zone :

 > No permission is required for operating drones with an all-up weight of up to 500 kg in green zones. Green zone means the airspace 

 >  Up to 400 feet that has not been designated as a red or yellow zone, and 

 > Up to 200 feet above the area located between 8-12 km from the perimeter of an operational airport.

Yellow zone : 

> Drone operations in yellow zone require permission from the concerned air traffic control authorities — which could be either the Airports Authority of India, the Indian Air Force, the Indian Navy, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, etc as the case may be. 

Yellow zone is the airspace  Above 400 feet in a designated green zone, and  Above 200 feet in the area located between 8-12 km from the perimeter of an airport (Earlier the perimeter was 45 km),  Above ground in the area located between 5-8 km from the perimeter of an airport.

Red zone: 

Red zone is the ‘no-drone zone’ within which drones can be operated only after a permission from the Central government. 

No remote pilot licence required for micro drones (for noncommercial use) and nano drones. Classification of drones is as follows: 

 Nano drone: Less than or equal to 250 grams; 

 Micro drone: Greater than 250 grams and less than or equal to 2 kilograms; 

 Small drone: Greater than 2 kilograms and less than or equal to 25 kilograms; 

 Medium drone: Greater than 25 kilograms and less than or equal to 150 kilograms; 

 Large drone: Greater than 150 kilograms

No requirement for security clearance before issuance of any registration or licence. 

No restriction on foreign ownership in Indian drone companies.

No import clearance required from DGCA though import of drones will be regulated by DGFT. 

Safety and security features like ‘No permission – no take-off’ (NPNT), real-time tracking beacon, geo-fencing etc. will also be notified soon.

SWAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) Scheme

SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) Scheme is a Central Sector scheme launched on National Panchayat Day i.e. 24th April 2020 aimed at “providing ‘record of rights’ to village household owners possessing houses in inhabited rural areas in villages and issuance of property cards to the property owners.

Nodal Ministry: 

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) is the Nodal Ministry for implementation of the scheme. 

• In the States, the Revenue Department / Land Records Department is the Nodal Department which will implement the scheme with support of State Panchayati Raj Department. 

• Survey of India shall work as the technology partner for implementation.

Objective of the scheme: 

The scheme aims to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India. 

• It envisages demarcating “rural abadi areas’ by using Drone Surveying technology. 

• The project aims for creation of survey infrastructure and GIS maps that can be leveraged by any department for their use. 

• It aims to support in preparation of better-quality Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) by making use of GIS maps.

Generation of Property Cards: 

The multi-stage process of generating a property card begins with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Survey of India (SoI) and respective state governments. 

Once the MOU is done, a Continuously Operating Reference System (CORS) is established which provides a virtual base station that allows access to long-range highaccuracy Network RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) corrections.

Significance of the Scheme: 

• Monetization of the Property: The scheme would enable them to use their property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits from Bank. 

• Improved Centre-State Collaboration: The model has a structure where the centre takes the responsibility of being the nodal authority and then functions after consultation with the revenue departments of the state governments taking the help of the state panchayati raj depts. 

• Increasing revenue to state government: By determination of property tax with the help of GPS directly in States will add to the State exchequer. 

• Efficient planning in rural areas: Mapping of rural areas will provide enough material to rural planners to plan infrastructure development in those regions.

 • Further, land entitlements to original owners will help in rapid acquisition of land for public infrastructure development. 

• Reduces dispute related to land titles: Currently, a large number pending cases in different level of courts across country is related to land titles. 

• Ownership certificates to owners of land will reduce such cases and thus burden on courts will automatically reduce.

Challenges in the Scheme Implementation: 

• Access to Data: To what extent the data collected will be shared with various layers of government and state departments. 

• To what extent the data will be monetised or should be monetised. 

• The private sector companies that are offering the drones for surveillance and data collection, will the data be shared with these companies too or not.

Data Protection: India, still as a country is far away from having a proper fool-proof data protection laws and without such law in place, collection of data and its misuse will always remain a challenge for such an ambitious scheme. 

Bringing Maximum Villages under Surveillance within Projected Time: Issues with bringing the villages under surveillance is a challenge as the pace of bringing villages under coverage cannot be pushed to increase after a certain point.

SWAMITVA scheme is a path breaking scheme which has the ability to tame multiple discrepancies simultaneously. 

It will on the one hand sort out issues pertaining to land acquisition and title rights while on the other hand will sort problems in judiciary due to pendency of large number of cases.

Greeen City

A green city is a city that promotes energy efficiency and renewable energy in all its activities, extensively promotes green solutions, applies land compactness with mixed land use and social mix practices in its planning systems, and anchors its local development in the principles of green growth and equity. It was proven that GDP has a positive influence on Green City performance, population size has a negative impact, and that the most influential factors are sanitation and air quality.

Green Urban Mobility

This Scheme intends to provide impetus to green and clean urban mobility projects. It is a step in the direction of meeting climate change mitigation and sustainability goals. The focus of this Scheme is to improve Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) infrastructure, promote innovative urban transit modes, strengthen Intelligent Transport System (ITS) facilities, retrofitting buses & other modes for energy efficiency/ clean fuel, and other technological and innovative measures for green urban transport. An outlay of about ₹ 3,000 cr has been kept under this Scheme for projects, which will be selected through Green Urban Mobility Challenge. This will help in reducing pollution levels through changes in traveling practices, improvement of urban mobility infrastructure and services such as pedestrian/ cycling pathways, last mile connectivity, enhance Information Technology applications and adopt innovations in implementation and financing of urban mobility projects.

City Bus Augmentation

A Scheme to induct over 20,000 city buses in 5 lakh plus cities  including Hilly/ UT/ North East State capital cities (total: 111) will be launched to strengthen organized city bus services, improve urban mobility and ease in living. Scheme components include procurement, for city operations, of all types of new buses with clean fuel (excluding hybrid/ battery electric buses already covered under the FAME Scheme of Deptt of Heavy Industries (DHI)), associated infrastructure and opex support for a period of 5 years after procurement.  An outlay of about ₹15,000 cr has been kept for this Scheme. It will boost automobile industry, generate direct/ indirect employment and facilitate the cities to adhere the Covid-19 guidelines i.e. social distancing in urban transport. Scheme will promote public transport, help in reducing congestion, pollution and accidents and promote clean air in these cities.

City Innovation Exchange (CiX)

The City Innovation Exchange (CiX) platform will be a significant addition to the growing innovation ecosystem of India and focuses on fostering innovative practices in cities. CiX, through an ‘open innovation’ process, engages with innovators to design-test-deliver on solutions to pressing urban challenges. This initiative is among the ongoing efforts of the Government to realise Prime Minister’s vision of New and AtmaNirbhar Bharat, by making cities more self-reliant and enabled to meet the needs of and provide services to their citizens.

Designed on the philosophy of ‘everyone is an innovator’, the platform will bring together Citizen Organisations-Academia- Businesses- Government to co-create for the future of Urban India in a transparent and sustainable manner. The Smart Cities Mission will partner and effectively collaborate with Startup India, Atal Innovation Mission, AGNIi and other initiatives in the Indian Innovation ecosystem.

City Innovation Exchange (CiX):

The City Innovation Exchange (CiX) will connect cities to innovators across the national ecosystem to design innovative solutions for their pressing challenges. The platform will ease the discovery, design& validation of solutions through a robust, transparent and user centric process that will reduce barriers for innovators and cities to discover fitting solutions. 

Built on the concept of ‘open innovation’, the platform will help in the flow of ideas ‘outside in and inside out’, enhancing the skills and capacity required to deliver smart urban governance. Through interaction with the Academia andBusinesses/Startups, the platform will benefit cities in the transfer of ideas from ‘labs’ to real environment. Similarly, by helping urban governments interact with citizens, the platform will ensure adoption of tested solutions that will be impactful and sustainable.   

The platform in due time will help our cities in adopting solutions that will enhance the quality of life for its residents and significantly improve the Ease of Doing Business. 

The Platform has more than 400 start-ups, 100 smart cities, more than 150 challenges statements and over 215 solutions at the time of launch. 

Smart Code Platform

SmartCode is a platform that enables all ecosystem stakeholders to contribute to a repository of open-source code for various solutions and applications for urban governance. It is designed to address the challenges that ULBs face in the development and deployment of digital applications to address urban challenges, by enabling cities to take advantage of existing codes and customising them to suit local needs, rather than having to develop new solutions from scratch. As a repository of open-source software, the source code available on the platform will be free to use without any licensing or subscription fees, thus limiting costs to those involved with customising the code and developing a locally-relevant solution.

National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM)

The National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM) will create a shared digital infrastructure for urban India, working across the three pillars of people, process, and platform to provide holistic support to cities and towns. It will institutionalise a citizen-centric and ecosystem-driven approach to urban governance and service delivery in 2022 cities by 2022, and across all cities and towns in India by 2024.

• NUDM will create a shared digital infrastructure that can consolidate and cross-leverage the various digital initiatives of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, enabling cities and towns across India to benefit from holistic and diverse forms of support, in keeping with their needs and local challenges.
• NUDM is citizen-centric, ecosystem-driven, and principles-based in both design and implementation. NUDM has articulated a set of governing principles, and inherits the technology design principles of the National Urban Innovation Stack (NUIS), whose strategy and approach was released by MoHUA in February, 2019. The principles in turn give rise to standards, specifications, and certifications, across the three pillars of people, process, and platforms.

India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX)

The India Urban Data Exchange has been developed in partnership between the Smart Cities Mission and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. IUDX serves as a seamless interface for data providers and data users, including ULBs, to share, request, and access datasets related to cities, urban governance, and urban service delivery. IUDX is an open-source software platform which facilitates the secure, authenticated, and managed exchange of data amongst various data platforms, 3rd party authenticated and authorised applications, and other sources. As the number of cities on IUDX expands, this will scale up to uniform and seamless sharing between data producers and data consumers across urban India.  IUDX is designed to address the problem of data silos, both within and across cities. Cities generate large volumes of data, which are recorded by a wide range of entities, both within government and across industry, academia, and civil society. The combination of these datasets can enable rapid innovation, as well as a better understanding of and planning for urban needs and challenges.  IUDX creates a secure and reliable channel for data producers or owners to share their data, with complete control over what is shared and with whom, in order to enable sharing while addressing security and privacy protections by design.

Municipal Bonds

A municipal bond or muni bond is a debt instrument issued by municipal corporations or associated bodies in India.

These local governmental bodies utilise the funds raised through these bonds to finance projects for socioeconomic development through building bridges, schools, hospitals, providing proper amenities to households, etc.

Such bonds come with a maturity period of three years, whereby municipal corporations provide returns on these bonds  either from property and professional tax collected  or from revenues generated from specific projects or both.

SEBI’s guidelines related to the issuance of municipal bonds: 

> The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revised the guidelines related to the issuance of municipal bonds in 2015 in an attempt to enable ULBs or local government bodies to raise finances from such sources. 

> Following this measure, different cities have capitalised on the new guidelines to fund initiatives such as Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urbanisation Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart Cities Mission.

Types of Municipal Bonds in India: 

> There are primarily two types of municipal bonds in India, categorised as per their usage. 

These are: 

• General Obligation Bonds: As the name suggests, General Obligation Bonds are issued to raise finances for general projects such as improving the infrastructure of a region. 

• Repayment  of the bond, along with interest, is processed through revenue generated from different projects and taxes. 

• Revenue bonds: Revenue bonds, on the other hand, are issued to raise finance for specific projects, such as the construction of a particular building. 

• Repayment of such bonds (principal and accrued interest) shall be paid through revenues explicitly generated from the declared projects.

Advantages of Municipal Bonds: 

• Transparency:  These bonds that are issued to the public are rated by renowned agencies such as CRISIL, which allows investors transparency regarding the credibility of the investment option. 

• Exemption from taxation: In India, municipal bonds are exempted from taxation if the investor conforms to certain stipulated rules. In addition to such conformation, interest rates generated on such investment tools are also exempt from taxation policy. 

• Low Risk: These are issued by municipal authorities, implying involvement of minimal risk with these securities. 

• Significant for ULBs: They are crucial for the financial independence of the Urban Local Bodies. 

Disadvantages of Municipal Bonds: 

• The yield is low and the bonds may not be able to beat inflation over the long term. 

• The bonds lose value as the interest rate goes up and may get traded at a value less than face value. 

• There is also a need for State guarantees for the bonds.

Goal of Municipal Bonds: 

India’s Urban Population: It increased from 11.4% in 1901 to 34% in 2017. According to McKinsey, it is expected to rise by 40 percent of India's total population by 2030. 

Share of Urban economy in GDP: According to Census 2011, 31 percent of the India’s population live in urban areas. 

Urban areas contribute more than 60 percent of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

Impact of urbanization on per-capita income: Different studies have found that higher urbanization levels are associated with higher levels of per capita income. 

Per capita income in terms of Net Value Added (NVA) is Rs 98,435 in urban India while it is only Rs 40,925 in the rural India. 

Hence, there is need to urbanize India by investing more in rural, rurban and urban infrastructure.

Utility of Municipal Bonds in sustainable urban infrastructure:

The rapid urbanization poses several challenges such as improving quality of urban services such as water, sanitation and urban transport; reducing urban poverty by employment. These demands need huge financial resources to cater the needs of infrastructure.

Requisite Investment in India’s Urban Infrastructure:

Ahluwalia committee on Urban Infrastructure (2011): High Powered Expert Committee on Indian Urban Infrastructure and Services was constituted by Ministry of Urban Development under chairmanship of Dr Isher Judge Ahluwalia in 2008. In its report in 2011, it had estimated investment requirement of Rs 39.2 lakh crore at 2009-10 prices for urban infrastructure over the 20-year period (2012-31). 

Smart City Mission (SCM): It estimated the total cost of projects which were proposed by the 60 smart cities (1st round declaration) at Rs 1.3 lakh crore. 

It proposed to finance only 42% of the total project by state and central government combined. 

The rest has to be raised by cities through their own resources such as Municipal Bonds, collection of user fees, land monetization and property tax, Borrowing from financial institutions.

Smart City

Smart Cities focus on their most pressing needs and on the greatest opportunities to improve lives. They tap a range of approaches - digital and information technologies, urban planning best practices, public-private partnerships, and policy change - to make a difference. They always put people first.

In the approach to the Smart Cities Mission, the objective is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of 'Smart' Solutions. The focus is on sustainable and inclusive development and the idea is to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a light house to other aspiring cities. The Smart Cities Mission is meant to set examples that can be replicated both within and outside the Smart City, catalysing the creation of similar Smart Cities in various regions and parts of the country.

Sustainable City

A sustainable city reduces environmental impacts through its activities and promotes sustainable consumption and production patterns in accordance with its own territorial, geographical, social, economic and cultural conditions. It is a city that is resilient to the impacts of climate change reducing the vulnerabilities of its population. The perfect sustainable city would be one that is self-sufficient in energy, manages waste to produce energy, has more sustainable transport, maintains green spaces and manages and uses its natural resources correctly. It would be a city that is built on the principles of ecology, education and equality.  Below we will analyze the characteristics of sustainable cities and how you can do your part to achieve a clean and ecological city.

Characteristics of sustainable cities:

1. Environmentally conscious inhabitants:

A sustainable city can only exist when its inhabitants are committed to changing their old habits for new ones that are less harmful to the environment. There would be no point in taking actions to promote recycling, investing in new energy and technologies if the people themselves do not intend to readjust their habits to contribute to and adopt these changes. Sustainable cities need citizens who are committed to the cause, who are environmentally aware and whose lifestyles can identify with environmentally conscious actions.

 2. Regenerating and preserving natural spaces:

 The renewal of public spaces is necessary. This implies the adaptation of urban space in general; a sustainable city provides green spaces that are larger, more comfortable and integrated into cities, never isolated. The planning of cities nowadays incorporates these spaces, providing a healthier air for citizens that can avoid exposure to high levels of pollution.

3. Mainly local city economy:

Sustainable cities also encourage models that encourage local purchasing and networks of productive, environmentally friendly people. By creating sustainable productive systems and new jobs to ensure that everyone in the city has access to resources and a fulfilling life, the economy becomes stronger. By supporting local trade we also reduce CO2 emissions generated by transport.  

4. Renewable energy techniques:

Technological advances have created the possibility of using new renewable energy sources. They have made it possible to supply our energy consumption with cleaner and less polluting energies than those we used previously. In the same way, electric vehicles are also a great contribution and a great alternative to the polluting traditional ways of transport. This is why we must encourage both large companies and individual citizens to use these alternative energies.

Green buildings

A green building depletes as little of the natural resources during its construction and operation. The aim of a green building design is to

1. Minimize the demand on non-renewable resources and maximize the utilization efficiency of these resources when in use
2. Maximize reuse and recycling of available resources
3. Utilization of renewable resources.

It maximizes the use of efficient building materials and construction practices; optimizes the use of on-site sources and sinks by bio-climatic architectural practices; uses minimum energy to power itself; uses efficient equipment to meet its lighting, air-conditioning, and other needs; maximizes the use of renewable sources of energy; uses efficient waste and water management practices; and provides comfortable and hygienic indoor working conditions.

The following aspects of the building design are looked into in an integrated way in a green building:

1. Site planning
2. Building envelope design
3. Building system design HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioning), lighting, electrical, and water heating
4. Integration of renewable energy sources to generate energy onsite
5. Water and waste management
6. Selection of ecologically sustainable materials (with high recycled content, rapidly renewable resources with low emission potential, etc.)
7. Indoor environmental quality (maintains indoor thermal and visual comfort and air quality)

Benefits of Green Buildings:

Some of the tangible benefits of constructing green are as follows:

• 30–50% reduction in energy consumption
• Up to 40% reduction in freshwater demand
• 40–65% reduction in building water consumption
• 30–40% reduction in operational cost of buildings

Green rated buildings are a sure-fire step forward towards developing an energy secure future for the country, and planning their design, construction, and operation will result in the following:

• Prevent destruction of the local natural habitat and biodiversity
• Reuse of the construction waste material to the maximum possible extent
• Reduce the energy and water demands of the building
• Reduce air and water pollution loads on the community
• Limited waste generation due to recycling and reuse
• Increase occupant productivity
• Enhance marketability for the community as a whole

Also there are many benefits of green buildings and green development. The following are a few :

Environmental Benefits

• Enhance and protect biodiversity and ecosystems
• Improve air and water quality
• Reduce waste streams
• Conserve and restore natural resources

Economic Benefits

• Reduce operating costs
• Improve occupant productivity
• Enhance asset value and profits
• Optimize life-cycle economic performance

Social Benefits

• Enhance occupant health and comfort
• Improve indoor air quality
• Minimize strain on local utility infrastructure
• Improve overall quality of life

Process to Rate Green Buildings:

GRIHA, an acronym for Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment, is a rating tool that helps people assesses the performance of their building against certain nationally acceptable benchmarks. It evaluates the environmental performance of a building holistically over its entire life cycle, thereby providing a definitive standard for what constitutes a ‘green building’. The rating system, based on accepted energy and environmental principles, will seek to strike a balance between the established practices and emerging concepts, both national and international.This tool has been adopted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. This tool, by its qualitative and quantitative assessment criteria, is able to ‘rate’ a building on the degree of its 'greenness'.